'Student Body' Someone They Knew with Tamron Hall

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- Shelton was the most inspiring person■ that you will ever meet. - Good kid. Good son. - Shelton Sanders. - I've always trusted what he would tell me. - When Shelton went missing, it was very strange. - Everyone felt like it was probably foul play. - Whether or not he killed Shelton, like, I don't know, but I really thought he knew more than what he was saying. - Is there such a thing as an accidental death in South Carolina? - If you did not get rid of a body, you wouldn't have asked that question. [dramatic music] ♪■ - On the night of June 19, 2001, Shelton Sanders, a promising 25-year-old college student at the University of South Carolina, called his mother and said he would be home late. He never made it home. Authorities initially believed he just ran off and there was nothing to worry about, but his family immediately knew something was wrong and began reaching out to those who knew him. Shelton's mysterious disappearance would eventually go from a missing person's case to a full-fledged homicide investigation. [somber music] ♪■ - Shelton was a very active little fella. Even at six years old, getting ready to get started with kindergarten. You know, he was just really curious about different things and so we just said, "Is this boy going to be a scientist?" And he became a outgoing young man. Liked to study and liked to do things right. He was my right hand even at 12 years old because he wanted to make sure everything is kept clean. - We had a little job at the church where we cut the church's grass at the cemetery. He didn't mind working. Good kid. Good son. - Shelton was the most inspiring person that you will ever meet. He was my role model. Shelton was patient. Shelton was loved by his community, by his family, his friends. - I first met Shelton in high school. He was a very humble guy, but he was really outgoing. He was the guy who would say, "Hey, look, let's go have a day trip. Let's go to the beach." And when it comes to cookouts, you know, Shelton was the main one to say, "Hey, man, you know, let's all get together. Let's have a cookout." - Woo-woof! - Shelton wanted to get married. Shelton wanted to have children. He also talked about owning his own distribution and raising cattle. He's a fanatic fan of the Dallas Cowboys, so he would want to go to the Super Bowl all the time to see them. So that was his dreams. That's a little about Shelton. - He just seemed, you know, just to fit. He was just a great guy and that's why I chose Shelton as my--to be the best man at the wedding. - Shelton went to school at USC, University of South Carolina, and his major was information technology. Shelton was getting ready to graduate in December of 2001. Unfortunately, Shelton's life was cut down short six months outside of his graduation. [dramatic musical sting] - On the night he didn't come home, he was commuting back and forth from the University of South Carolina. He communicated to his mother that he would be a little late 'cause one of his friends is getting married. He was the designated person in that group that was assigned responsibility of going out and looking for a suitable place to have a bachelor's party. - I've always trusted what he would tell me and usually when he tell me things, I mean, that's exactly what it would be because that's what he was taught as he was growing up. Tell the truth. Do what you're supposed to do. Get back home. [clock ticking] - Quarter to 12, I was awakened in a dream with Shelton screaming out to me. A very loud scream. So I immediately got up. We began to make phone calls and to check to see whether he would answer his phone and there was no answer. - So when Shelton went missing, it was very strange. My dad was concerned that the car wasn't outside. My mom was distraught trying to figure out what was going on. It wasn't like Shelton to not come home. - The next morning, very early, we began to make phone calls trying to find out, has anybody seen him or his whereabouts. Of course...nothing. - My dad started making calls to law enforcement. Have they heard anything? Started calling highway patrolmen to see if Shelton had got into a car accident and didn't make it home. My dad instructed my younger brother to make phone calls to Shelton's known friends that he knew of to get the details about where Shelton was on June 19th. - After calling the hospitals, calling the law enforcement, it just became so frustrating and teary eyes and... calling family members to try to get some kind of consolation, trying to get some kind of relief. - My dad, at that time, was told by law enforcement that he couldn't make official missing person's report until after 48 hours. So law enforcement kind of told him, like, "Look, you gotta give it time. He's an adult, so let's just wait around to see if we hear from him." - When Shelton disappeared, his family, I believe, knew immediately that there was a problem, that this was not like Shelton. His friends even got out and searched. They drove the way Shelton would go home from Columbia that night. - We rode those highways, you know, looking for Shelton. 521, 261, I-20. I thought Shelton was on the side of the road somewhere, and I say that because Shelton was an erratic driver. Like, he drove kind of fast. He wasn't the most careful when he was driving. - There are cases where people, good people, you know, leave or run off without any explanation. That wasn't this case. Their son wasn't like that. Their son came home every day. Their son was a really good citizen. He didn't fit the profile. - Ooh. - Big man. - Okay. - [groans] - And they started making calls of who he was last seen with and who did he go to scout these hotel rooms with, and that's when we learned that it was with Mark Richardson. [dramatic chords] - Mark was really defensive. "Why is everybody calling me?" You know, and it's like, "Well, you know, we're just calling 'cause, like, you were the last one he was with." ♪■ [dramatic music] - Judge William Sanders' search for his son began the moment Shelton didn't come home. Leading the charge before the police got involved, Shelton's family retraced his steps to the last person he was seen with-- Mark Richardson. ♪■ - Our younger son, Edwin, discovered that Shelton had met with a fella by the name of Mark Richardson that evening. ♪■ And he said that when Shelton was about to go and check on these hotels, he had another mutual friend that was gonna go with him but backed out at the last moment. And Mark Richardson decided that he would go with Shelton. - I met Mark Richardson probably around '93 at the University of South Carolina. He did not stay on campus. He stayed off campus, so he used to come out and hang out with us in the dorm rooms. Initially, Mark was a funny guy. He was, uh, kind of reserved until you really got to know him and then he just kind of blossomed and just came out. - I asked my son Edwin to get Mark Richardson on the phone and would he talk with me. He went berserk! Yeah, he said-- said some very nasty things to me. I told him then that I was not accusing him of anything. ♪■ We were seeking information as to Shelton's whereabouts and, well, it got to the point where I thought that it was best that we end the phone conversation. - Well, my dad being a magistrate judge and being in the military, he's been around a lot of people and his intuition is spot-on. - And one of the things that I found odd when I called Mark was Mark was really defensive. "Why is everybody calling me?" You know, and it's like, "Well, you know, we're just calling 'cause, like, you were the last one he was with." - The next day, my son called him again. And this time the young fella had a completely 360 degree attitude and he said this time, "Mr. Sanders, why don't I do this. "I'll just come over to you all's house and speak with you." - Mark Richardson was on the way to our house. My father made a phone call to Sheriff Anthony Dennis, at the time he was a deputy, to inform him that, "Mark Richardson "is on the way to our house to give us his side of the story "about what took place that night. "I would like law enforcement to come out here to our house "to assist us just in case of anything unexpectedly happens, we'll have, like, backup or law enforcement on site." My dad did record the conversation that they initially had in the living room. - Mark said, "We went scouting for hotel rooms "and after that, we came back to my house. "And Shelton said that he had to go back home to Rembert, South Carolina." And by that time, the law enforcement had already came in the door, and they had their own separate conversation. - Shelton Sanders was reported missing to the Sumter County Sheriff's Department. They kept the case. I do remember that was a point of contention between the Richland County Sheriff's Department and Sumter County Sheriff's Department because we felt the last place he was seen should be where the jurisdiction lies as it relates to the investigation. - Sumter County law enforcement talked to the neighbors of Mark Richardson and they said on that Tuesday night, June 19th, they heard three gunshots-- pow, pow, pow. [three gunshots] - When he heard the gunshots, he came outside onto his porch, looked, and saw Mark Richardson standing next to a vehicle. He asked him, "What was that noise?" Mark says to him, "Don't worry about that. That was my car backfiring." Well, it was three shots in a row, so I don't know of any vehicle that will backfire-- That stood out to me. - Sumter County Sheriff's Department dropped the ball completely on this case. My dad gave them all kind of materials, names of people that could possibly help with the case, and Sumter County Sheriff's Department lost the information. - They just went down the wrong path when it comes to it being "drug related." You know, African American college graduates, they had no more fun than the average college student here in this country. Maybe one or two associates may have been involved in some marijuana, but it--I can't speak for why they went down that direction. I just know that what they needed to focus on was primarily here in Columbia, South Carolina. - Now, as an 11-year-old, I really didn't know much about what was going on. I just remember my mom crying a lot, my dad being out, searching for my brother. - I searched out his friends, his acquaintances in Columbia University, talked with people that may have known him or may have heard something. I spoke to hundreds of people. I went in places where I shouldn't have gone. You know, I went in woods--wooded areas. I went into areas where bodies of water was. Dangerous. - We held out that hope... that hope that we would just hear something. Every morning or every evening, looking down that driveway to see whether that white car will show up-- I just kept hoping. - I ran into Mark at a restaurant. I'll never forget, 'cause I hadn't seen him since 2001. As soon as we got to talking, the first thing he says is, "And have they found Shelton's car yet?" He didn't ask about Shelton or wonder what happened to Shelton. It was just the car. "Have they found the car yet?" ♪■ - Everyone described Mark Richardson as someone that would shift on them emotionally in mid-stream of a conversation, and they knew that something was wrong. [dramatic music] - Shelton Sanders had now been missing for nearly two years. The Sumter County Sheriff's Office had yet to make an arrest, and the case was cold. But on April 26, 2003, a deputy from the Richland County Sheriff's Department made a discovery that would blow the case wide open. - 2003, I was working as the on call investigator for the Richland County Sheriff Department. A deputy had received a phone call about some young people hanging out in the parking lot around a white Oldsmobile, and they were drinking. - When law enforcement came out to this particular apartment complex, Greenbrier Apartments, they saw the Oldsmobile, they ran the license plate off of that Oldsmobile and connected to the missing person's case of Shelton. - It had been months in between his disappearance and when his car was found. The car was backed into a parking space in the parking lot. At that point, you know, everyone felt like this was probably foul play and it turned it, at that point, clearly, into a criminal investigation. - I showed up. Immediately treated the vehicle and where it was parked as a murder crime scene. Calling the necessary personnel to come and start processing the vehicle. - Shelton's car was found in Richland County, so at that point, the jurisdiction is eventually turned over to our department, and Sergeant McDaniels picked up the case. - When we learned that Deputy McDaniels would be in charge, I just said, "Thank you, Lord." [chuckles] - When they did find Shelton's car in the apartment complex, that then kind of started to change how I started feeling about whether Mark Richardson had anything to do with this. - After we took the case over in 2003, there was a two-prong strategy to conduct the investigation. One was to reinterview everyone. The other one was to see what the phone records could tell us. When interviewing the mutual friends of both Mark Richardson and Shelton Sanders, I began to notice that everyone described Mark Richardson as someone that would shift on them emotionally in mid-stream of a conversation, and they knew that something was wrong. Each of them had their own story about an instance where Mark had engaged them out of the blue and would accuse them of trying to hurt him. - Mark was a totally different person from 1993, from when I first met Mark. As the year started to progress, Mark changed from being a reserved, outgoing to more of a paranoid type guy. - Sergeant Kevin Baker was responsible for identifying Mark Richadson's phone records off of a tower that we know was positioned within very close proximity to where the car was found. We were able to confront him on that. He came into the Richland County Sheriff's Department, and myself and Sergeant Baker began to interview him. "Why was your phone hitting off of a cell phone tower that was in close proximity to where the car was parked?" ♪■ He said that he was picked up by a prostitute and that she actually had a car and drove him out in that direction. He told us the name of a potential prostitute, and Sergeant Baker went to go run that down. I don't know too many prostitutes that have their own vehicle and pick up their own johns. And so that didn't make sense. - At some point during the interview, Richardson said, "Let me ask you a hypothetical question. "Is there such a thing as an accidental death in South Carolina?" - He puts his face in his hands like this and he says, "How do I explain getting rid of a body?" I could tell that he was struggling with telling the truth and giving us a confession on it. At that point, Sergeant Baker came back into the room. I said, "Let me update you on where we are." And I went through a whole spiel about how he asked a question, "How do I explain getting rid of a body?" He said, "I didn't say that." - It's not enough to bring charges just alone on that statement, but when you look at the other evidence involved in the case, you know, all those things tend to show guilt. - I'd stand on the arrest and the probable cause wholeheartedly based on the witness testimony of his behavior, based on the triangularization of his records, putting him right next to where the car was located, based on his own testimony that he was in fact the last person to be seen with Shelton Sanders, and also, based on his indirect admission of "How do I explain getting rid of a body?" - I was sitting in my room and Mark Richardson's face come across the screen. And I saw Mark Richardson being charged for the shooting death of Shelton Sanders. And at that moment, I was very relieved that we finally had a path to justice, at that time. - Have you heard from Shelton? - Have not heard from my son. - Each year that he doesn't call, showing that he was not alive. [dramatic music] - Nearly seven years after Shelton Sanders' disappearance, the trial for his murder began. And although the State's case was built on circumstantial evidence, solicitor Barney Giese believed it would be enough to convince the jury that Shelton was killed by his friend Mark Richardson. ♪■ - I want to recognize the attorneys for their opening statements, and I invite your close attention. Solicitor, you're recognized. - May it please the court, Your Honor. - Yes, sir. - June 19, 2001, Shelton Sanders did not get home that night. Shelton Sanders, for the last 2,492 days, has never contacted nor been seen by anyone. There's a reason for that. State submits Shelton Sanders is dead. There can be no other reason. And he's not here today, the State submits, because of the action of one man. And it was a man, ladies and gentlemen, who, that night, murdered the victim here in Columbia... and then disposed of his body. He's in the courtroom. He's the defendant, Mark Richardson. - As the lead investigator, I sat at the solicitor's table throughout the entire trial. It was being videotaped and, you know, it was pretty intense, but I felt strong about it. - What this case is about, as you have learned, the prosecution is contending that this is a murder case. We contend that this is a missing person's case, that Shelton Sanders has disappeared. There will not be a single person to come into this courtroom to tell you that they witnessed Mark Richardson kill Shelton Sanders. This part about my client disposed of the body-- see if one witness comes in here and testifies to you that they saw my client dispose of the body, they knew when he disposed of the body, they knew where he disposed of the body. There's a difference between proof and speculation. - Anytime you try a murder case, it's hard, okay? In this case, it's even harder because, you know, you have to clear that first hurdle. And that first hurdle is showing that Shelton Sanders was actually dead and deceased. - Have you seen Shelton or celebrated a birthday or holiday with him since June 19, 2001? - No, sir. Only his absence, sir. - Has he called you? - No, sir. - And since June 19, 2001 has any bill come in on any Visa or credit card showing that Shelton Sanders has bought anything? - No, sir. - Nothing? - Nothing. - So each year that he doesn't call, each year that he doesn't use the credit card, each year that, you know, that he's just lost and not around, you know, to me, was circumstantial evidence showing that he was not alive. - Since June 19, 2001, 10:44 p.m., Mrs. Sanders, have you heard from Shelton? - Have not heard from my son. - It was heartbreaking to me seeing my mother become emotional, my father giving details as best as he could. [somber music] - Robert Busby. - Good afternoon, Mr. Busby. - Good afternoon. - Well, there are a lot of different ways to try a murder case. In this case, you know, we could show that there was a gunshot, Mr. Richardson was involved, and then you show that Shelton is dead. What time did y'all get to your house? - Um, probably around 11. - Where did y'all go in the house? - We went upstairs, where I stay at. - And did anything unusual happen once y'all were up there? - When we were up there, we heard, like, three shots firing, one right after another. And I went to the door and then I went downstairs. Outside in the yard and I looked over, and I saw a fella in the backyard. And he said, "Everything's all right. My car was just backfiring." And then I went back upstairs and went back in the house. And that was it. - "Everything's all right. My car was just backfiring." - Right. It wasn't--it wasn't like a car backfiring to me. - When reinterviewing Mark Richardson's neighbor, his statement became very important to me as it relates to what happened on the night that Shelton Sanders was killed by Mark Richardson. - Did you tell the investigator, "I tried to look over at the neighbor's yard." - No, I looked over when I came down. I looked over. - And how many people did you see? - One. - Did you see a gun? - No. - Did you see a body? - No. - Did you see blood? - No. - Did you see a car? - Yeah, there was a car. - What color was it? - It was dark, so I don't remember. It could've been light or it could've been dark. - It was too dark to tell. - It was too dark to tell, yes. - And were there bushes... that obstructed your view? - Yes. - So you couldn't see over very well. - Not real good, no. ♪■ - The year 2000, spring of 2001, like, how often would you see Shelton Sanders? - Well, during that time, I would see Shelton pretty frequently 'cause me and Shelton, you know, still hung out a lot at the [murmurs]. - In addition to seeing him, would you also keep in contact with him? - That's right. - And how would that work? - You know, either call him or we'd all get together, you know, at one of our friend's house. - At some point, in this group of friends, did you notice a change in somebody's personality? - Yeah. Yeah, sure did. - And who was that? - Uh, it was Mark. Mark Richardson. Testifying was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. And seeing Mark there, knowing that he is on trial for the murder of one of our closest friends... - What types of things would he say to you? - Well, some of the things would be like, a lot of people were, uh... a lot of people were always looking at him, a lot of people were, uh, maybe out to get him, so to speak. But it was just more that everybody was against him. - Mental health became an issue in the trial itself. There's testimony that Mr. Richardson had been acting very strangely just in this very period of time about when Shelton went missing. - Mark, he would go in and out. He would go in and out. Sometimes he would act normal, sometimes he would not act normal. - We have a group of friends, all of them educated, all of them have love for each other. They weren't at odds with Mark Richardson. - Tell the judge again. What were the words that the defendant said to you in the apartment of Hampton? Hampton Park Apartments. You said spring or summer of August... - Correct. 2000. - 2000. - Uh, he essentially said that he heard voices in his head telling him that he needed to get his friends before they got him. - And I believe that on the night in question, Mark Richardson allowed those voices to get the best of him, and he perceived Shelton Sanders as an immediate threat. [three gunshots] - He said, "Is there a such thing as an accidental death in the state of South Carolina?" If you did not get rid of a body, you would not ask that question. Especially while you're in the headquarters of a law enforcement agency. ♪■ [dramatic music] - The jury had heard convincing testimony from friends that Mark was acting strange and hearing voices. To wrap up their case, the State would call detectives to testify and present their evidence, but it was the rigorous cross-examination of these witnesses by defense attorney I.S. Leevy Johnson that appeared to turn the tide in the trial. [edgy music] - I want to turn your attention to June the 26th. Did you and Investigator Burnish travel to Columbia, South Carolina? - Yes, we did. - What was the purpose of you going to speak to Mark Richardson? - We went to interview him because he was last seen with Shelton Sanders. - Did Mark Richardson say anything to y'all? - Yes, he did. The first statement he made, he said, "I didn't kill anybody." - At that point, had you advised him that you were there on a homicide? - Well, when he made that statement I said, "We're here about your friend Shelton Sanders who's missing." - And again, this is on June the 26th of 2001 and at this point, Shelton Sanders was considered missing. - That's correct. - He was asked if he owned a gun and he said, yes. He owned a Glock .45 caliber handgun. - At that point, did you request anything of him? - We asked if he'd allow us to go inside and look at his residence. - And what did he indicate to you? - He told us, "You can look, but you can't search." - What did he tell you as you were leaving the residence? - He told us not to come back without a warrant. - Once you'd gotten the search warrant, where did y'all go? - We went to Mr. Richardson's residence. - You searched specifically. What were y'all searching for? - The Glock .45 caliber handgun. - And were you able to recover it? - Yes, we were. So you searched... and how about did you search Mark's car? - I did not. No, sir. - Was it there? - It was there, yes, 'cause he drove up in it. - He drove up in the car. Did anyone search his car? - I don't recall. - If you had searched the car and found some body fluids and fingerprints, some hair follicles or something connecting Shelton with the inside of the car. Isn't that right? - Yes, sir. - And under the circumstances, if Shelton had been shot and had been transported in that car after being shot, might've had some blood in it. Anybody check for that? - I don't know. - What did you find that was incriminating to indicate that Shelton Sanders was murdered - They didn't find anything. - I do recall during the trial testimony from the Sumter County Sheriff Department investigators that were involved in it thinking, like, "Please get to what we did beginning in 2003 for the jury." - Call your next witness. - May I please call? - Yes, ma'am. - The State calls Sergeant Shawn McDaniels. - And so it was at that time that we began to create the proper theme. - What was significant to you at this point in your investigation? As far as Mark Richardson's cell phones. - Where he was located when he used his cell phone on the night of June 19, 2001. The cell phone was actually hitting off of-- between this one and this one. - And what is located directly between those two? - Greenbrier Apartments. We felt the triangularization of his phone records where the car is located-- pretty strong. We put you right next to the car, and we find the car. The initial interview, again, that was pretty strong. He said, "Is there a such thing as an accidental death in the state of South Carolina?" And I, at that point, told him that there was. He put his face down in his hands and when he came back up and he stated, "How can I--how can I explain getting rid of a body?" If you did not get rid of a body, you would not ask that question. Especially while you're in the headquarters of a law enforcement agency. - Other than you... and Mr. Baker claiming that Mark said these things to you, what independent proof do y'all have that that happened? - Other than me and Sergeant Baker, nothing, sir. - Are you telling us that the Richland County Sheriff's Department doesn't have any equipment that could accurately preserve your question and his answer? - No, it is not common practice for us to record our interviews. - And the reason it is not used, Mr. McDaniels, is exactly what's happening in this case because it allowed this almighty sheriff department to come into court and pit y'all against little Mark Richardson. Isn't that right? - That is incorrect, sir. I.S. Leevy Johnson, you know, is good at what he does. I have to give him credit. I have to give credit where it's due. He's--he comes off very well to a jury. But when you couple those facts that we presented to get the warrant, I felt pretty strong about it. - Ladies and gentlemen, please give me your attention. The fact that the defendant elected not to testify is not a factor to be considered by you in any way in your deliberations and in your consideration on the question of whether he is guilty or not guilty. - There's always two sides to a story and we wanted to hear the other side, but we could not compel him to take the stand himself. His lawyer wouldn't allow it. - Murders do not occur in a vacuum. There is something that is always left at a murder scene. You just cannot walk away from a murder scene without leaving some evidence behind. Some physical evidence. Have y'all noticed that not a single expert came in here to testify that they found any... any evidence of a forensic nature? No blood found anywhere. No DNA. I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen of jury, that that speaks volumes about the lack of evidence in this case. Well, there's this beautiful commercial about Burger King. "Where's the beef? Where's the beef?" The question in this case is where's the proof? - Mark's defense attorney made the prosecution's case really questionable. He poked holes in the whole case. - Mr. Johnson said there's no evidence that this happened. No forensic evidence. Time destroys forensic evidence, but it doesn't destroy cell phone records and cell phone towers. State submits this... condemns him. On June the 20th, that first call was made on his cell phone. He goes to Pisgah Church. Out of this vast world we live in, that's not a coincidence. There's a reason why he hit off Pisgah Church and that's because he had driven that car to Greenbrier Apartments and left it. No beef, Mr. Johnson? That's beef. That's a hamburger. That's a Whopper. ♪■ It's the worst time of any trial. You've done everything you can do, and the jury has it. And you know, the longer they're out, a lot of times, at least in South Carolina, the less chance you have of getting a conviction. I've always thought. ♪■ - All right. Thank you. Mr. foreman, I received a note. - It's almost unexplainable. This is just--wow. [dramatic music] - The family and friends of Shelton Sanders were anxious but hopeful as they awaited the jury's decision. A guilty verdict would bring them justice and they hoped closure. ♪■ - Mr. foreman, I received a note from the jury that reads that "We cannot come to a unanimous decision on this case." Is that the report of the jury? All right, then, uh, the court declares a mistrial in the case. - My heart dropped to my stomach 'cause I didn't know what was going on. I knew it wasn't a guilty verdict. At that time, I didn't even know what a hung jury meant, and so I looked at my parents and I saw their reaction and I knew that was a time to be sad. - This is almost unexplainable. This is just--wow. There were tears and, "I can't believe this." - I really thought if he was convicted it would be one step closer to finding Shelton's remains. ♪■ - Based on my observation, the case ended up in a hung jury primarily based on race. And the reason why I say that is the eight people who believed that he was guilty were white. The four people who believed that he wasn't were Black. The foreman was a young Black man who, clearly, based on his post-interview with the media, he had internalized the facts so much to the point where he put himself in the shoes of Mark Richardson. That is not what we're supposed to do as a juror. - You feel down about it, but I specifically, in this case, because of the Sanders' family and what great people they were, I really, in this case, felt for them. I hoped I could convict him and then we might, you know, somehow get Shelton's whereabouts-- his body back. But that wasn't gonna happen. - There's something there that we haven't found yet that's going to bring a conclusion, that is gonna help us find the answers that we need, answers to give to the family. Answers to resolve the case. Answers to bring it to prosecution. It's a puzzle that needs to be solved. ♪■ - In February of 2018, I don't know what it was. I woke up one morning, and I thought about Shelton. And I said, "My brother has been gone for 17 years, "and my parents have not had closure. "Me, as a sibling, and my other two brothers "have not had closure. You know what? "I'm 28 years old. I need to get up and do something about it." I started to hire private investigators, reaching out to psychics, reaching out to different news outlets and media. - All that was want is to find out where his remains is. Where he can finally, finally come home. - Then we can have a proper burial, and that would be a big thing for me. - I did the billboards, the yard signs for Shelton, the flyers... just reaching out to the sheriff's department, the attorney general here in South Carolina, and I just started having weekly law enforcement meetings keeping them on track. This is what needs to be done still. This is what we should be doing. - Our unit got involved in Shelton's case in 2021. Ms. Sanders, Shelton's sister Wilveria, had sent a letter to the sheriff. Our task now is to find Shelton's remains, get him back home, and in finding his remains, that we are able to locate more evidence. At this point, we are not ruling anybody out as a suspect. - I don't know what happened to Mark. Once the court case was over with, I think he may have moved around a little bit, but I have no idea. I have no contact with Mark at all. - I think Mark Richardson, without a doubt, is the one responsible for taking the life of his friend. - In my opinion, at this point, I have seen nothing that has changed my opinion that Mark Richardson has committed the offense. - I've written five letters. One to Mark Richardson himself and to his entire family. I wrote them all a letter telling him that we, as a family, as the Sanders family, we forgive him for what he did with Shelton and he can just tell us what he did with the remains. He can call our tip line. My private investigator actually hand delivered that letter. - Whether or not he killed Shelton, like, I don't know, but I really thought he knew more than what he was saying. ♪■ - We had the wonderful opportunity, and the sad opportunity all at the same time, of being part of a celebration of Shelton in June of 2021 which was his 20th year anniversary. - The worst part--not knowing. Not knowing where or what could've happened to Shelton. I miss that boy so much. - I'm of the opinion that, uh, one day, maybe not in our lifetime, but the truth will surface. I have faith that that will happen. - I do believe we will find his remains at some point because we're not gonna stop looking. - So we're going on 21 years... w-with nothing. Uh, in your mind, you're really, really hopeful. I just want so much for the family, and I want this for his sister. - For the first time in my life, I finally feel that we're moving closer to justice and that we're going to soon get closure and that we will finally bring Shelton to a resting spot in our home. ♪■ - The search for Shelton continues. The Cold Case Unit is investigating and they say they are following leads, but as of this taping, Shelton Sanders has not been found. I'm Tamron Hall. Thanks for watching "Someone They Knew." [somber music]

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Channel: COURT TV

Views: 527,095

Rating: undefined out of 5

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Id: 7H9JGPP2qnc

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 43min 59sec (2639 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 12 2023